Full-back laid low by ankle ligament injury...
DAY ONE of our Devon Tour ended with Ben Purkiss on crutches after the reliable full-back picked up an ankle ligament injury.
Thankfully the injury is not as serious as first feared and he is only likely to be out for a couple of weeks.
“It’s frustrating,” he said. “There’s never a good time to pick up an injury, but especially when you get through the tough bits of the first couple of weeks of pre-season and then this happens.
“The problem is with one of the ligaments; it was extremely painful so I was sent for an x-ray which, thankfully, ruled out a fracture.
“It was one of those things. There was no contact from any other player, I just played a one-two and the return pass was just behind me so as I tried to change direction, my ankle ligament took the strain.
“It now means that I have to sit around for a few days before I can start my rehabilitation work. Being stuck in the building on crutches whilst the lads are out training or at games is not nice.
“I’ve never had an injury at this stage of the pre-season before. It’s not ideal, but I will work hard to get back involved.
“The banter has certainly been flying around whilst we have been here; we have an excellent group in terms of personality and the additional quality that has come in with the new signings.
“Each of the new lads has added something to us and have settled in really quickly, which is testament to the rest of the lads. They have enhanced what is already an excellent atmosphere around the place.”